


The Philosophy of Love and War

by AyeletSita



Series: Children of War [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Death, F/M, Family, Gen, Nightmares, Not A Fix-It, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Self-Hatred, Siblings, War, a lot of it, alternative universe, friendships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-22
Updated: 2016-08-22
Packaged: 2018-07-27 17:04:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7626781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AyeletSita/pseuds/AyeletSita
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU. James and Lily never died in the Halloween of 1981, Peter was never a traitor, Gideon and Fabian Prewett survived the first wizarding world and another member of the Golden Trio grew up an orphan... Not a fix-it. Probably more characters died here than in the original series. Contain (mostly) canon ships.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Philosophy of Love and War

**Author's Note:**

> This is probably one of the weirdest fanfics I've written so far. It's going to be very long, take a long time to update and honestly, might not be finished. I'm a bit afraid to publish something I didn't finish writing yet (or even written much more than two dozens pages of) but I felt like I need it.  
> This AU isn't the kind of stories where one (or couple) things change and the rest of the story changes accordingly. Things changes without any real reason besides me wanting it to change and the characters (and the relationships) will change as a result of it.  
> I already know the way the fanfic is going to be built, and it's going to be confusing and not 100% chronological. This story will take place mostly during the books' years but also during the Marauders' era and the pre-Hogwarts one. A lot of things change as Harry's generation grow up in war time and many (MANY) loses their life.  
> There is a lot of angst in this story, a lot of death and dealing with the aftermath of it which means depression, self hate, self harm, nightmares, PTSD and more. This story will also focus of love and friendships and family relationships. The ships are mostly canon ships (unless one part of them is dead and then... well, what can I do?) but don't expect something too romantic. I'm more of a friendships kind of writer.  
> I'll do my best not to bash any character in this story but I do have my opinion so I might treat some characters more harshly than others (while laying off of others, perhaps unfairly). I apologize for that in advance (and for all the language mistakes I'm bound to do through the fic as English isn't my frist language).  
> Hope you like it!

_September 1 st, 2017._

Chaos was flourishing in England at the morning of the first of September. The roads were crowded with cars and people kept pushing each other on the streets, desperately trying to reach their destination.  
A dark haired man, pushing a big cart, full of suitcases and an owl's cage, subtly waved his wand toward the crowd to allow him a pass into the almost-full train station. By his side, a beautiful red-haired woman was pushing an almost identical cart and did her best to keep track on the herd of children (demons in disguise, she firmly believed) running in front, behind and next to them.  
One of children, a red-head girl, was trailing off behind them, tears in her eyes.  
"It won't be long, and you'll be going too," promised her Harry.  
"Two years!" contradicted Lily. "I want to go now!" Harry smiled fondly at his weeping daughter. 'Just like her mother,' he thought to himself. He and his wife exchanged a knowing look.  
"It's five for me!" protested the boy by her side. He was red-head as well, but the kind of Weasley red, instead of the color Lily inherited from her paternal grandmother. He did, however, inherit her emerald eyes, just as his older brother Al.  
"Your time will come," promised Ginny to the six years old, deciding wisely not to point out these five years will be full of muggles primary school which he was, right now, missing the first day of.  
"I won't! I won't be a Slytherin!" screamed Al from the front. The eleven years old looked angry and shaky, his little hands clenched tightly. It seemed that their boys continued their previous argument, the one that started (as far as Harry knew) two good years ago and was opened once again in the car ride to King's Cross.  
"James, give it a rest!" scolded Ginny and the young Gryffindor made a face.  
"I only said he might be!" he protested, before smiling, not too kindly, toward his brother. "There's nothing wrong with that. He might he in Slytherin." Ginny looked at him harshly and the grin disappeared from James' face. No Potter was stupid enough to argue with that face. In the back, a dark haired girl snickered. Harry decided not to say anything to his oldest child; it was one's privilege to be amused by their siblings' humiliation (at least by their mother).  
The family continued in a relative silence toward the platform. Some people looked at them curiously, as they were one of the many families wearing weird cloths and carrying weird baggage that passed there in the past hour or so. The Potters didn't mind. They knew there were worst reasons to be stared at.  
As they reached the barrier, Natalie Potter bypassed her parents and siblings, drugging her trunk behind her while her cat, Timothy Crookshanks Potter (named by Natalie when the girl was five years old) following her dutifully (Harry was pretty sure there was some kind of magic involved, as no one seemed to step on the cat and he seemed way too calm for a small animal in a busy station, but he had yet to find a proof).  
"Have a nice year, sweetheart," Harry told his daughter and even managed to steal a half-hug.  
"Don't forget to write," added Ginny, forcing her daughter with her gaze to calm give her a goodbye kiss.  
"I will," promised Natalie.  
"And don't forget to reply to your aunt!" added Ginny. The eldest Potter just rolled her eyes fondly and made her way through the barrier.  
James followed quickly, taking his cart from his mother and running toward the wall without hesitation. He didn't bother to say goodbye to his parents but at least in his case, Harry was pretty sure they'll get the chance before the train leaves.  
"You'll write to me, won't you?" asked little Al as they walked. He adjusted his glasses on his nose and looked nervously at his parents, forgetting for a second about his sibling's presence.  
"Every day, if you want us to," promised Ginny. This time it was the youngest member of their group's turn to snicker.  
"Shut up, Doggie!" snapped Al. His brother's name wasn't Doggie, of course (it was Benjamin, or simply Ben), but the nickname was born at some point during his first year of life (by his three, five and seven years old siblings) thank to his middle name, Sirius.  
"Don't worry, Al," said Lily, more sympatric than she usual would've been toward her older brother. "I'll write to you and I'll even get Lynnie to do it!" Little Lynne, of course, was not capable of writing at the age of three (and was actually left behind in the daycare today), but such small details didn't interest Lily.  
Al nodded to his sister (perhaps the closest to him out of his siblings) with thankful look before looking back to his mother.  
"Not every day," he said sharply. "James says most people only get letters from home once a month." Harry struggled to control his smile.  
"We wrote to James three times a week last year," reminded him Ginny. Al didn't look convinced.  
"And don't believe everything he tells you about Hogwarts," said Harry in the end, feeling he owes at least that much to his second eldest son. "He likes a laugh, your brother." 'Just like his namesake.'  
They finally reached the barrier, now standing in one group (of five people) in front of it. They all increased their speed as they came closer, Al and Ben closed their eyes and Lily looked forward unblinking. They stepped forward and…  
The next thing that greeted the young boys' eyes was the familiar sight of platform nine and three quarters.  
"Where are they?" asked Al nervously. Harry smiled fondly at his son's concerns.  
"We'll find them," promised Ginny as they pushed their way through the crowd, now dressed in robes and cloaks instead of shirts and pants.  
There was a lot of smoke and noise on the platform and it was hard to see people's faces clearly. There wasn't much time until the train will depart but Harry wasn't nervous. There was something very calming about the familiar mess.  
"I think that's them, Al," said Ginny finally and gestured toward her left. Harry could barely see a group of people behind the thick mist. He smiled as they emerged out: two adults, two children and only one cart.  
"Hi," said Al, relief in his voice. One might think he feared that Rose, daughter of Hermione Granger, already dressed up in her school's uniforms, would miss the train.  
"Parked alright?" asked Ron as he stepped next to Harry. The dark haired wizard smiled at him. "I did," continued the red-head to tell. "Hermione didn't believe I could pass the muggle driving test, did you? She thought I'd have to confudo to examiner."  
"No, I didn't," protested Hermione without looking at them, still watching as the kids interact. "I had complete faith in you."  
"As a matter of fact," said Ron in a lower voice. "I did confudo him. I only forgot to look in the wing mirror, and let's face it; I can use supersensory charm to that."  
Meanwhile, Lily, Ben and Hugo (Ron and Hermione's youngest) were having a heated discussion of their future Hogwarts house.  
"If you're not Gryffindor, we'll disinherit you," informed them Ron, "But no pressure."  
"Ron!" scolded Hermione as Harry and Ginny rolled their eyes, exchanging a smile. The younger kids laughed but Al and Rose actually seemed a bit nervous by the threat.  
"He doesn't mean it," the mothers were quick to assure but Ron had already lost interest. His eyes fell on one blonde wizard and his son a couple of meters away.  
"Look who it is," he murmured to Harry while gesturing subtly (or as subtly as the tactless Ron could manage). Draco Malfoy looked older than the last time Harry has seen him. His hair continued to recede which made his already pointy chin look sharper. His wife wasn't facing them, perhaps talking to someone behind her, but his son was looking in their direction, before noticing he'd been spotted and turning his gaze. Malfoy senior graced them with a nod.  
"So that's little Scorpius," said Ron under his breath as he examined the young boy who looked every bit his father's son, just like Al looked every bit Harry's and Hugo every bit Ron's. "Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie," he ordered his daughter jokingly. "Thank God you inherited you mother's brains."  
"Ron, for heaven's sake!" said Hermione, annoyed, though Harry, knowing her as well as he did, spotted the fond smile she struggled to hide. "Don't turn them against each other before they've even started school!"  
"You're right, sorry," apologized Ron, though he didn't sound too sorry to Harry. "Don't get too friendly with him, though, Rosie."  
"Hey!" the calling cut their conversation. James was back, his trunk and owl missing and his face full of color. "Teddy is back there!" he announced proudly as he gestured generally toward the direction he came from. "Just seen him! And guess what he's doing? Snogging Victoire!" Harry couldn't help but to smile. His godson and niece had been dating for a long time now but James seemed to forget that. In his defense, they had recently broke up after a major fight (Harry didn't know what it was about but the distant between them, as Victoire went to Hogwarts and Teddy had already graduated, made things hard). It seemed as if these two finally made up.  
"Our Teddy!" continued James, unsatisfied by the reactions he got, as if anyone thought he meant any other Teddy. "Teddy Lupin! Snogging our Victoire! Our cousin! And I asked Teddy what he was doing-"  
"You interrupted them?" interrupted Ginny. "You are so like Ron…"  
"-and he said he'd come to see her off!" continued James, ignoring his mother. "And then he told me to go away-" Why was Harry not surprised? "-He's snogging her!" repeated James, just in case someone didn't get the message.  
"Oh, it would be lovely if they got married!" whispered Lily. Harry had to control himself not to growl. It's going to start all over again, isn't it? "Teddy would really be part of the family then!" Like he wasn't their brother in anything but blood already.  
"He already comes round for dinner about four timed a week," pointed Harry out. "Why don't we just invite him to with us and have done with it?" The man was sarcastic but the kids were too young and excited to spot it.  
"Yeah!" agreed James enthusiastically. "I don't mind sharing with Al- Teddy could have my room!" As if the nineteen years old had any interest of giving up his flat in favor of a room in the Potters' house.  
"No," said Harry firmly, but decided not to break his kids' hearts by the truth. "You and Al will share a room only when I want the house demolished." And it's not like he had been lying either. "It's nearly eleven; you'd better get on board."  
"Don't forget to give Neville our love!" Ginny reminded James as she hugged him.  
"Mom! I can't give a professor love!" protested the eldest Potter son.  
"But you know Neville-" argued Ginny, making her son to roll his eyes.  
"Outside, yeah, but at school he's Professor Longbottom, isn't he? I can't walk into Herbology and give him love…" He shook his head disbelievingly before turning to his younger brother.  
"See you later, Al!" he teased his brother. "Watch out for the thestrals!"  
"I thought they were invisible?" asked Al, easy to fool in his emotional state. "You said they were invisible!" James laughed (the way a brother usually laughed when his younger brother was making fun out of himself) and let Ginny kiss his forehead and Harry to hug him before leaping onto the train and disappearing out of sight.  
"Thestrals are nothing to worry about," Harry reassured his son. "They're gentle things, there's nothing scary about them. Anyway, you won't be going to school in the carriages. You'll be going in the boats."  
Ginny kissed still-worried Al goodbye before the young boy trusted himself in his father's embrace.  
"Bye, Al," said Harry without letting go of his son. "Don't forget Hagrid invited you to tea next Friday. Don't mess with Peeves, don't duel anyone till you're learned how. And don't let James wind you up."  
"What if I'm in Slytherin?" It was barely a whisper, carefully mumbled into Harry's chest. Harry let go of his son slightly and kneeled down so his eyes were on the same level as Al's.  
"I owe my life to three people, besides my own family. Two of them were Slytherin and they were the bravest people I have ever known." Al didn't look convinced, he knew all of Harry's stories by heart but right now they weren't enough to reassure him.  
"But just say-" started Al to say.  
"Then Slytherin house will have gained an excellent student, won't it? It doesn't matter to us, Al. But if it matters to you, you'll be able to choose Gryffindor over Slytherin. The Sorting Hat takes your choice into account."  
"Really?" Al didn't sound convinced.  
"It did for me," confessed Harry for the first time in his life to his child. His son knew most of his childhood storied but this one was never told to any of the Potter children and Al seemed very surprised by it. No doubt he'll think about it later but right now he settled for a quick nod before going on the train, his trunk and owl already there.  
"Why are they staring?" asked Al as Ginny closed the door behind him.  
"Don't let it worry you," said Ron, emerging from his own goodbye to his daughter. "It's me, I'm extremely famous." Harry snorted and Ginny slapped her brother's shoulder with a healthy mixture of annoyance and love.  
The children laughed (Al and Rose through the window, Lily, Hugo and Ben from the outside) and the train begun to move. They followed it up for a couple of steps, while it was still slow enough for them, and Harry's gaze stayed fixed on his son which excitement had already begun to take over him.  
They stopped as the train begun to accelerate and just stood in their places and wave long after the kids could see them no longer.  
"He'll be alright," murmured Ginny to both Harry and herself. Harry looked at her, smiling. He lowered his hand absentmindedly and touched the lighting scar on his forehead.  
"I know he will," said Harry to his wife confidently.  
The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well.

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked, enjoyed or just have a time please leave a comment, I appreciate it.  
> P.S Are people interested in seeing the Dursleys in this fic? As the changes go they are cut off from the world and I'm having hard time trying to decide if I should bring them in or not.


End file.
